It’s difficult to know what motivates a foreign buyer. I’m not remotely involved in the real estate biz, so perhaps someone with first-hand knowledge can comment.
My guess is that wealthy foreign buyers want to buy where their wealth or their wealthy business takes them. That is unlikely to be San Diego.
Follow the link to a listing of Fortune 500 (actually 1000 are listed in this compendium):
San Diego has a grand total of 3 companies in the 500, one of which is Sempra — and that can hardly be called anything but a large local company. That puts San Diego in the esteemed company of El Segundo — also with three. But San Diego has beat out Boise, with only two.
The list is bulging with neighborhoods in LA and the Bay Area. So if San Diego sellers are holding out for the wealthy foreign money, good luck to them. The buyers will go to LA and the Bay Area because money follows money.
Perhaps sellers are waiting for the wealthy Pacific Rim foreign money to buy in San Diego to retire in comfort and beauty. In my inexpert opinion, guess again. Think of all the truly beautiful cities spread around Australia and the South Pacific and tell me if you would decide to buy in the remote overpriced San Diego market. If you wouldn’t, why do you think they would?
As an addendum I do want to thank all the Piggs whom I’ve been reading for the past two years. I thought I was crazy when the market reached crazy pricing. It turns out that you (we) were sane and the world was insane. So thank you all for bringing sanity to real estate analysis.
